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buffswin · Jul 31, 2005, 12:40 PM

I was in CompUSA yesterday, looking at the 12 inch iBook - and maybe it was just me - but the monitor looked horrible!

It was very dim, very washed out, and looked like somebody had sneezed or misted it or something.

Was that just the crappy CompUSA display? or do they all look like that??

CrusaderSean · Jul 31, 2005, 01:00 PM

they're all like that. it looks alright in a dark room, but otherwise subpar.

galarneau · Jul 31, 2005, 01:01 PM

I think it's due to the huge amount of lighting in these stores.

The Apple Store in Syracuse has the same problem.

cold aspiration · Jul 31, 2005, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by CrusaderSean

they're all like that. it looks alright in a dark room, but otherwise subpar.

thats exaggerating a lot in my opinion. The only times my ibook screen has shown that kind of quality was in the sunlight but that is natural for all lcds

CrusaderSean · Jul 31, 2005, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by cold aspiration

thats exaggerating a lot in my opinion. The only times my ibook screen has shown that kind of quality was in the sunlight but that is natural for all lcds

i'm not exaggerating. when i bought my ibook, i went to my univ's computer show room. they had both pc and macs. i was turned off by the dark lcd on ibook compare to all the pc 12" ones. the guy who worked there told me it was because the lcd has been on 24/7 plus its in a well lit room. after i got my ibook, the first thing i checked was lcd. it was as bad as i thought it would be. of course better than the ones in show room, but still nothing close to the pc laptops.

perhaps its a bit harsh for me to say its subpar. it is quite usable and colors are accurate after calibration. its just not on the same level as other good laptop lcds.

mitchell_pgh · Jul 31, 2005, 04:02 PM

I'm on one now and they are "normal" IMHO. For the price of the computer (I looked at Best Buy) it seemed much like most of the others.

ghporter · Jul 31, 2005, 05:12 PM

Never judge a computer by a demo unit you see in a store. They get abused, screwed with, messed with, misconfigured and otherwise hosed over. The display on an iBook is as bright and clear as any flat panel monitor or laptop display when properly adjusted.

mgl · Jul 31, 2005, 05:19 PM

Actually, the screens on standalone LCD displays are usually substantially brighter than laptop screens.

The screens on the 15" and 17" powerbooks are brigher than the 12" powerbook, which shares a display with the 12" iBook. The iBooks and 12" Powerbook don't have as good of screens as the other PowerBooks.

You get what you pay for. I have an iBook, but I know it was cheaper partially due to the screen.

mitchell_pgh · Jul 31, 2005, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Never judge a computer by a demo unit you see in a store. They get abused, screwed with, messed with, misconfigured and otherwise hosed over. The display on an iBook is as bright and clear as any flat panel monitor or laptop display when properly adjusted.

I worked at BB... they do get screwed with.

Kenneth · Jul 31, 2005, 06:55 PM

I went to the Bellevue Square Apple Store yesterday and noticed that the demo units of iBook were all previous generation. One of the staffs told me that the new models should be on display couple days or week later. I was there to compare about the screen as well.

EmmEff · Aug 3, 2005, 11:27 AM

The screen on the new models is no different than the previous ones...

Sure, it's more dim than most current gen PCs but I still like mine.

Also, I don't know if it's still true or not but the default gamma for OS X and Windows used to be quite different. That made the PC displays look more vivid.

Ji Eun · Aug 3, 2005, 11:51 AM

no complaints on my 12" 1.2ghz iBook. i rarely bring my laptop to the park and i don't work under fluorescents. i do always have the setting set to the brightest though. and i mainly use the aqua default desktop picture, which somehow seems to brighten up the screen... o_O

mitchell_pgh · Aug 3, 2005, 12:09 PM

I agree... I think the screen is fine. I'm not running around the office saying "WOW, look at my screen", but it gets the job done.

EmmEff · Aug 3, 2005, 12:36 PM

I find that most modern notebook screens are excessively bright and need to be turned down anyway. Bright screens may shine on the showroom floor, but for everyday work, they're a cause of eyestrain. I have to turn down the brightness significantly on my Dell notebook.

pat++ · Aug 3, 2005, 06:00 PM

Make sure you ALWAYS calibrate the display of your iBook. The defaut color calibration is pretty bad and the colors look washed-out. I use Native colors setting and it's much much better than the default Apple configuration.

EmmEff · Aug 3, 2005, 10:32 PM

Good point! I forgot that I even calibrated mine.

mitchell_pgh · Aug 3, 2005, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by EmmEff

Good point! I forgot that I even calibrated mine.

So did I, but mine was in the ballpark... I'm in a darkish room and my screen is crazy bright.

freudling · Aug 4, 2005, 01:27 AM

I don't think the iBook screen is all that good either. It certainly bows to Xbrite screens, the new standard in Laptop screens found on some lines of PC laptops. In this way, the iBook screen is so so. I too think the screen on the 15 and 17 PB is much better. But that IS the case because the resolution is higher on those than on the iBook. PB resolution is: 15" 1280 x 768; 17" 1440 x 900 and the IBook is: 1024 x 768. Yes, the 15" and 17" PB screen stretches those pixels compared to the iBook 12" and 14", but both PB's still look much much better than the 14" iBook and still significantly better than the 12", although not as pronounced in the latter case. It must be due to the WIDESCREEN, which seems to offset any pixel stretching with the added benefit of that extra pixel resolution.

freudling · Aug 4, 2005, 01:38 AM

One question I have is, since the PowerBook's screen - 15" for instance - is Wider than the 14" iBook's, is it the same HEIGHT? I understand that the extra horizontal pixel resolution (256 extra pixels) offsets the extra width of the screen, but what about the height of the screen? The vertical pixel count in that respect is the same on both systems (768). If the PowerBook's screen is not as high, that would account for a sharper image. I also wonder if the pixels are the exact same size between the two, or are they slightly different?

Ji Eun · Aug 4, 2005, 04:13 AM

the price differential would explain the leap in quality from a 12 / 14" ibook to a 15 / 17" powerbook. needless to say. 12" iBook = $1000 (plus free ipod mini for students!?).... considering all the perks that come standard in today's ibooks the screen is not something i'd gripe about.

ben.mcguire · Aug 4, 2005, 05:25 AM

Originally Posted by pat++

Make sure you ALWAYS calibrate the display of your iBook. The defaut color calibration is pretty bad and the colors look washed-out. I use Native colors setting and it's much much better than the default Apple configuration.

ive only had my ibook a few months now, i have no complaints about the screen. I didnt even know you could calibrate the colurs?? how do you do this ?

mitchell_pgh · Aug 4, 2005, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by Ji Eun

the price differential would explain the leap in quality from a 12 / 14" ibook to a 15 / 17" powerbook. needless to say. 12" iBook = $1000 (plus free ipod mini for students!?).... considering all the perks that come standard in today's ibooks the screen is not something i'd gripe about.

We're Mac users... we MUST bitch

but seriously, the iBook does have a nice selection of add-ons.

Voch · Aug 4, 2005, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by ben.mcguire

ive only had my ibook a few months now, i have no complaints about the screen. I didnt even know you could calibrate the colurs?? how do you do this ?

SuperCal.

http://www.bergdesign.com/supercal/

pat++ · Aug 4, 2005, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by ben.mcguire

ive only had my ibook a few months now, i have no complaints about the screen. I didnt even know you could calibrate the colurs?? how do you do this ?

Go in System Preferences->Displays and select the Color tab.